Scala Sancta

Scala Sancta

The Scala Sancta (English: Holy Stairs, Italian: Scala Santa) are a set of 28 white marble steps located within a building in Rome near the Lateran Basilica and is an extraterritorial property of the Holy See.[1] The steps, long encased in a protective framework of wooden steps, are located in a building that incorporates part of the old Lateran Palace. The stairs lead to the Sancta Sanctorum (English: Holy of Holies), the personal chapel of the early Popes known as the chapel of St. Lawrence.

According to the Catholic tradition, they are the steps leading up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem on which Jesus Christ stepped on his way to trial during the events known as the Passion.[2] The stairs were, reputedly, brought to Rome by St. Helena in the fourth century. For centuries, the Scala Sancta has attracted Christian pilgrims who wish to honor the Passion of Jesus.

History

Medieval legends claim that the Holy Stairs were brought from Jerusalem to Rome about 326 by St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great.[3] In the Middle Ages, they were known as Scala Pilati or "Stairs of Pilate". From old plans it appears that they led to a corridor of the Lateran Palace, near the Chapel of St. Sylvester, and were covered with a special roof. In 1589, Sixtus V had the papal palace, then in ruins, demolished to make way for the construction of a new one, he ordered the Holy Stairs be reconstructed in their present location, before the Sancta Sanctorum (Holy of Holies), named for the many precious relics preserved there, including the celebrated icon of Santissimi Salvatore Acheiropoieton ("not made by human hands") which on certain occasions used to be carried through Rome in procession.[4] These holy treasures, which since Leo X (1513–21) had not been seen by anybody, have been the object of dissertations by Grisar and Lauer.

Decoration

A fresco at Scala Santa

The Scala Sancta are encased in protective wood and may only be ascended on the knees. For common use, the staircase is flanked by four additional staircases, two on each side, constructed around 1589.[5] Climbing the Holy Stairs on one's knees is a devotion much in favor with pilgrims and the faithful. Several popes have performed the devotion.[2] As part of the ceremonies opening the Holy Year in 1933, Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani, Vicar of Rome, led a crowd of hundreds in mounting the steps on their knees.[6]

The decoration of the Scala Santa was one of the major refurbishment exercises of the papacy of Sixtus V, led by Cesare Nebbia and Giovanni Guerra and occupying a crew of artists to decorate frescoes including Giovanni Baglione, Giacomo Stella, Giovanni Battista Pozzo, Paris Nogari, Prospero Orsi, Ferraù Fenzoni, Paul Bril, Paulo Guidotti, Giovanni Battista Ricci, Cesare Torelli, Antonio Vivarini, Andrea Lilio, Cesare and Vincenzo Conti Baldassare Croce, Ventura Salimbeni, and Antonio Scalvati. Numerous preliminary drawings by Nebbia exist for these frescoes, though it is not exactly known with certainty who painted which fresco.

A major restoration was completed in 2007, funded largely by the Getty Foundation.[2]

Scala Sancta in the Catholic Church

In the Catholic Church, a plenary indulgence has been granted for climbing the stairs on the knees.[7] Pius VII on 2 September 1817 granted those who ascend the stairs in the prescribed manner an indulgence of nine years for every step. Finally Pius X, on 26 February 1908, granted a plenary indulgence to be gained as often as the stairs are devoutly ascended after confession and communion.

Visitors

Martin Luther allegedly climbed these steps on his knees in 1512. As he did so, he repeated the Pater Nosters. "Luther was one day devoutly climbing these steps, when suddenly a voice like thunder seemed to say to him: The just shall live by faith. Romans 1:17. He sprang to his feet and hastened from the place in shame and horror. That text never lost its power upon his soul. From that time he saw more clearly than ever before the fallacy of trusting to human works for salvation, and the necessity of constant faith in the merits of Christ. His eyes had been opened, and were never again to be closed, to the delusions of the papacy."[8] He believed that this recollection was a prompting from the Holy Spirit admonishing him to rely on faith alone, rather than works. This was later described as a turning point in his life.[9] However, the veracity of this account is uncertain.[10][11][12]

Charles Dickens, after visiting the Scala Sancta in 1845, wrote: "I never, in my life, saw anything at once so ridiculous and so unpleasant as this sight." He described the scene of pilgrims ascending the staircase on their knees as a "dangerous reliance on outward observances".[2]

Copies of the Scala Sancta

Imitations of the Scala Sancta have been erected in several locations and indulgences were often attached to them.

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs).

Notes

  1. ↑ www.vatican.va Stampa della Santa Sede: Zone extraterritoriali vaticani, 3 April 2001 (Italian). Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Moore, Malcolm (14 June 2007). "Steps Jesus walked to trial restored to glory". The Telegraph (UK). Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Nickell, Joe (2007). "Other Crucifixion Relics". Relics of the Christ. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 96–97. ISBN 0-8131-2425-5.
  4. ↑ Ewart Witcombe, p. 372.
  5. 1 2 Grendler, Paul F. (2009). The University of Mantua, the Gonzaga, and the Jesuits, 1584–1630. Johns Hopkins University Press.
  6. ↑ "Pope Blesses Entire World". New York Times. 2 April 1933. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  7. ↑ Lea, Henry (1896). A History of Auricular Confession and Indulgences in the Latin Church. 3. Philadelphia: Lea Bros. pp. 457–458. ISBN 1-4021-6108-5.
  8. ↑ "The Great Controversy" (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1888.1911), 126.
  9. ↑ "A Bunch of Everlastings or Texts That Made History (Philadelphia: Judson Press, 1920), 20.
  10. ↑ Grisar, Hartmann. Luther. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, Ltd. London. 1917. Vol VI, p. 496.
  11. ↑ Ganss, H. (1910). "Martin Luther", in The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 20 February 2012 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09438b.htm
  12. ↑ Kittelson, James. Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career. Augsburg Publishing House. 1986. p. 59.
  13. ↑ "Shrine of Holy Stairs – Campli". Official Website of the Teramo Province. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  14. ↑ http://www.kreuzberg-bonn.de/

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton. 

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Coordinates: 41°53′13″N 12°30′25″E / 41.887°N 12.507°E / 41.887; 12.507

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